When guests drop by, Rachel knows how to make everyone feel at home. She has individual table settings for everyone—from her brother who likes clean lines to a friend who likes a classic touch. These settings run the gamut from fine glasses from Charlotte Moss to flea market finds.

The rest of Rachel's home is filled with items that inspire her design sensibilitylike National Geographic and Vogue magazines, seashells, good friends and old books. "I love the rare and vintage book floor at The Strand [used bookstore in New York City]," she says. "I could spend hours in here and just really, really get lost. They're really just beautifully worn and you wonder who has read them before, what lives have they lived before."